


Boundaries

by Kushana



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Aromantic Asexual Luke Skywalker, Aromantic Character, Aromantic Din Djarin, Aromantic Luke Skywalker, Aromantic Relationship, Asexual Character, Asexual Din Djarin, Asexual Luke Skywalker, Asexual Relationship, Attempt at Humor, Boundaries, I'm Bad At Summaries, I've no idea what I'm doing, M/M, POV Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, Soft Luke Skywalker, This fic got away from me, but I'm doing it anyway, from the author I mean, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:20:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29923686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kushana/pseuds/Kushana
Summary: Din suddenly feels cold under his armour and his throat constricts. He’s never touched Luke like that, carefree, and there are such things as boundaries.“Din. It’s okay.”
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo - mentioned
Comments: 13
Kudos: 80





	Boundaries

**Author's Note:**

> For the ones who don't know about me yet:
> 
> My knowledge of Star Wars comes from the Original Trilogy, and whatever I know about the Mandalorian comes from binge reading almost all fics in this fandom and watching the rescue scene, which I watched only to see Luke being a BAMF, because well, Luke. He will always be my first hero, and possibly my last.
> 
> I'm both arospec and acespec, and it's my perspective I'm giving here. If it doesn't match your experience, it's totally valid :)
> 
> English is not my first language, though it's my love, so please be kind. Also, this has not been beta'ed and I suck at summaries.
> 
> Let it be known that this story started as something supposedly light and silly, and decided it wanted to be something else. I just followed the flow.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it!

* * *

Luke has a streak of dirt on his nose.

They’ve been cleaning one of the unused rooms for the Force-sensitive child that Han, of all people, stumbled upon at a market while accompanying Leia on a diplomatic mission. The room had been full of dust and cobwebs, and somehow Luke ended up with a single smudge of something looking vaguely like soot on the side of his nose while the rest of his person remains untouched.

Luke has a streak of dirt on his nose and it’s driving Din crazy.

He’s seen the Jedi in all kinds of states in the time they’ve known each other. He’s seen him after his morning run, hair plastered to his forehead and sweat making his clothes adhere to his body; he’s seen him with bedhead in the morning before he’s had his caf and the children are still asleep; he’s seen him with tousled hair after one of Han’s affectionate rufflings, in the garden while the wind blew with the promise of rain, in the evening after he’s run his hand in his hair while reading. He’s seen him with clothes askew after the children have gotten him to cuddle with them, and after he passed out on the couch the night Han brought an alcohol so strong Din isn’t sure his sinuses have recovered yet. He’s seen Luke covered in flour, and in dirt, and in bruises, and half-naked that time Din had to clean the wounds he’d received while on a mission for the New Republic, and somehow nothing has prepared him for the sudden surge of something that floods him as he looks at the single streak on the Jedi’s nose.

He knows how soft Luke looks and is when he’s home with the children and his family and friends when they visit, when he’s simply Luke, and yet it’s the first time he realizes how vulnerable Luke truly is. He knows his friend is strong - he can (and he has, multiple times) hand Din his own ass in combat, and Din has seen firsthand exactly how powerful Luke is - but it seems he hadn’t fully grasped how _human_ he is, too, until now. Seeing this smudge on him feels like a reminder that Luke can break - and now Din is able to identify what he feels as protectiveness. He wants to bundle Luke in his arms and never let go and promise him that everything will be alright from now on because Din won’t let any harm come to him. He knows it’s a promise he can’t make, and he knows Luke is more than capable of holding his own, but he wants to make it all the same.

“... so that they can have a bit more storage space. What do you think?”

Luke is looking at him expectantly, and Din realizes he has stopped paying attention to his surroundings since he noticed the dark imprint on his nose. Luke takes him in and his lips curl at the corners.

“You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said, have you?”

There’s a look of fond exasperation on his face, and Din thanks his helmet for hiding the blush he can feel creeping up his face. He doesn’t consider lying; Luke knows him too well.

“... no,” he answers, sheepish.

Luke laughs, loud and joyous, shaking his head at Din’s obliviousness.

“I was suggesting that we bring in another set of drawers, so that they can have more storage space once they start settling in.”

Din knows he’s supposed to pitch in, but the only thing his mouth can come up with is: “Your nose.” He finds himself blushing harder as Luke looks utterly bewildered.

“My nose?”

Before his brain can get on with the situation, Din’s hand has reached out and his index is rubbing the appendage in question with care. His mouth, still working without any cortical input, answers: “You have a streak of dirt. Here,” while his finger finishes its task. It’s only when the spot is cleaned that his brain finally kicks in and he notices that Luke is looking at him, eyes riveted to Din’s visor, and holding himself still under Din’s ministrations. Din suddenly feels cold under his armour and his throat constricts. He’s never touched Luke like that, carefree, and there are such things as boundaries. He starts to retract his hand but before he’s managed to pull it an inch from Luke’s face, Luke’s hand is encircling his wrist. He looks from Luke’s hold to his face, unsure of what is happening, guilt starting to gnaw at his insides for overstepping, but Luke is looking at him as if Din is the one who needs to be treated with caution.

“It’s okay,” he says. “Din. It’s okay.”

This is not what Din was expecting at all. Luke doesn’t look mad, or displeased, or spooked, or uncomfortable. He’s holding Din’s wrist loosely and watching him with concern. Which… Din can’t quite understand, his brain having decided to take a break again. His mouth, however, decides it’s a good idea to blurt “What?” and now he’s blushing to the roots of his hair, thank the Armourer for his helmet. Luke eyes him, and shakes his wrist softly.

“It’s okay for you to touch me,” he says. “You’re not making me uncomfortable.”

Din can only stare. Luke lets out a little huff, full of fondness.

“Din, you know I’m a tactile person, right? You’ve seen me with the children, you’ve seen me with my family, you’ve seen me with my friends. I’ve no trouble touching and being touched by people I care about and who care about me. That includes you.”

Before Din has processed Luke’s words, the Jedi has changed his hold on him so that his hands are cradling Din’s one.

“I appreciate how mindful and respectful you’ve been of my personal space,” he goes on, face open and soft, “and the way you reacted when you thought you’d breached my boundaries. I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear that your touch is welcomed and appreciated. I’m so used to being around people I touch freely and who touch me freely that I didn’t think I needed to give you explicit permission. In retrospect, I should have realized that given your Creed you’d be extra mindful of people’s physical boundaries. If anything, I’m the one who didn’t assess the situation correctly.”

Din cannot answer. It feels like a gift, what Luke is saying, and he doesn’t quite know how to receive it. Luke is looking at him like he’s the one who has to be forgiven, but Din didn’t bring the subject up either. He pushes past the lump in his throat to say so, turning his hand so he can grasp one of Luke’s.

“ I… appreciate, too, how mindful and respectful _you_ have been of my personal space,” he says gruffly, quoting Luke’s words back at him. “I just wasn’t sure that I was allowed to touch you and I didn’t dare ask because I was afraid you would take it the wrong way.” 

“As in, a sexual way? A romantic way?” Luke’s expression stays gentle, open, no judgement in his tone.

“Yes to both,” is all Din can answer. He didn’t think he would ever have this discussion with Luke, and he’s feeling incredibly awkward. Luke doesn’t seem fazed, though, but then, he rarely does. He squeezes Din’s hand, treating him to one of his sunshine smiles.

“ I wouldn’t have assumed,” he says. “I’m not… I don’t feel these kinds of attraction, so I don’t even factor them in when people touch me casually. If I pick up something from them then I react accordingly, but otherwise I don’t mind. Especially when I care about said people,” and he squeezes Din’s hand again. “What about you? Since you were afraid I would misunderstand, I guess you’re not attracted to me in these ways either?”

The ease with which Luke has admitted to neither being a romantic nor a sexual being breaks a dam, and Din finds the words flowing from his mouth.

“I’m like you,” he answers. “I don’t feel these kinds of attraction. Never had. I always thought I was defective somehow, that there were things I was supposed to feel and I didn’t and it made me feel ashamed and flawed. I’ve been to many worlds and met many people and some of them expressed attraction to me, and I didn’t know how to answer that. I tried to reciprocate in a few cases where I genuinely liked the person, but it ended in a disaster every time. They either were disappointed in me or in themselves and in both cases I felt like a failure. You’re the first person I’ve come across who’s like me, and I really appreciate you and I’ve no idea how to go about it. I’m completely out of my depths here.”

Luke’s face goes through a myriad of emotions as he speaks - anger, sadness, grief - to land back on something that Din recognizes as tenderness.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all this pain,” he says, voice soft, “and that people made you feel as if you were defective or a failure. You’re not. You’re just different, like me. And maybe we can learn to be different together, because I really appreciate you, too, and I’d like to see what we can make of it.”

The lump is back in Din’s throat. This… this is so much more than he dared hope for. The complete acceptance of who he is, in all his aspects, is not something anyone has ever given him before. He never even dreamt of it. And Luke, kind Luke, soft Luke, vulnerable and human and so very strong Luke, is offering it to him freely, without any obligation of reciprocity, and he’s never wanted to give something as much as he wants to give the same to Luke in return. He squeezes his hand and finds enough of his voice to answer :”I’d like that, too.”

And now that he knows he is allowed, now that he knows he can and will bundle Luke in his arms one day and promise him that everything will be alright from now on because Din won’t let any harm come to him, he doesn’t hesitate to reach out to put Luke’s hair back into place once they’ve finished to get the room ready, and the smile he gets in return makes it all worth it.


End file.
